Security is Key to Peace in Ukraine

Welcome to IWPR’s Frontline Update, your go-to source to hear from journalists and local voices at the front lines of conflict.

 THE BIG PICTURE  

As Ukraine marks the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion and US-brokered peace efforts gather pace, Nobel Peace Prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk told IWPR that only security guarantees – accompanied by accountability for wartime atrocities – could ensure an end to the conflict.

 VOICES FROM THE FRONTLINE 

“This is not just a war between two states. It is a war between two systems – authoritarianism and democracy. Putin is trying to prove to the world that democracy and the rule of law are illusions,” said Matviichuk, who heads Ukraine’s Centre for Civil Liberties, co-recipient of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, and is an IWPR international board member.

“To achieve sustainable peace, security guarantees must be the first priority – not temporary measures that postpone war for months or years, but real guarantees that make it impossible for Putin to achieve his goals,” she continued, warning against any delusion that entrenching occupation could provide the illusion of peace or stability.

“In occupied territories, people live in a grey zone, with no tools to defend their rights, property or even their children,” she said, adding, “Under international law, occupation is still an international armed conflict. People sometimes assume that occupation reduces suffering, but in reality, it just makes it invisible. It is not peace at all.”

 WHY IT MATTERS 

Matviichuk’s message echoes a consensus amongst Ukrainians that, despite the high toll of the war, continuing to fight was preferrable to long-term occupation.

“Ukraine might be able to consider a deal to end the war if, for example, it were offered membership in NATO, given enough sophisticated weapons to defend itself in the future, joined the European Union, and received from the West all the financing it needed for reconstruction,” Nataliya Gumenyuk -  CEO of The Public Interest Journalism Lab and an IWPR project partner - wrote in Foreign Affairs this month.

But a ceasefire without such guarantees, she continued, would mean “lasting peace and stability will remain elusive”.

 THE BOTTOM LINE 

The Ukrainian people have remained resilient in the face of Russia’s large-scale human rights abuses and war crimes.  Despite the ongoing conflict, local voices such Matviichuk’s continue to call for a common international response - and the centrality of security and justice in ensuring long-term stability.